ELC Lion's Latest News

• November 20th: Ask a Pediatrician with Dr. Clare Crosh in the FRC @9:00-9:30 am & 11:30-12:00 pm
• November 24th to 28th: NO SCHOOL - THANKSGIVING BREAK
• December 3rd: NO PRESCHOOL
• December 4th: International Bread Night at the ELC Family Event @5:30 pm
• December 8th: Mindful Parents' Coffee Clutch with Building Bright Futures
• December 17th: Cookies and Cocoa Daytime Family Event during each class session

We invite all of your household family members to join us on Thursday, December 4th from 5:30-6:30 pm for International Bread Night at the ELC, as we celebrate student learning as it relates to the BREAD STUDY!

CLICK HERE if you plan on attending the event!

CLICK HERE to sign up to bring bread samples and set up a table representative of your family heritage! Please reserve your table by Monday, December 1st.

As we gather for Bread Night, we invite you to bring new socks, mittens/gloves, hats, or non-perishable food items as a donation. Just as warm bread brings comfort, your generosity helps warm the hearts, bodies, and minds of ELC families who may need a little extra support this season. Thank you for sharing kindness.

This week, we celebrate all of the amazing people who help our school community grow. From our school board members to our guest teachers, every person plays an important role in helping our children learn, feel safe, and thrive each day. We are grateful for the many hands and hearts that make our school such a special place.

Enjoy this rendition of "The More We Get Together" by Director, Christine Fuller.Our preschoolers are learning this special song using spoken words, AAC devices and sign language to honor these helpers, building EMPATHY and a sense of BELONGING as they recognize and appreciate the many hands and hearts that make our school such a special place.

In this section, you will find helpful information related to the Second Step Curriculum and Pyramid Model framework that supports students' social emotional learning and development both in the classroom and/or at home. A variety of topics will be included throughout the year including, but not limited to:

• Following Directions
• Identifying and Managing Feelings
• Fair Ways to Play
• Thinking of Solutions

Self-Regulation is the ability to recognize and manage your emotions and behaviors in different settings and activities.

Children who learn to regulate their emotions:

►Have an easier time making friends

►Handle disappointment better

►Relate more successfully with peers and adults

►Are less impulsive

CLICK HERE to access the controlled breathing exercise visual above. Have children smell the flower (breathe in through their nose) and blow the

pinwheel (exhale through their mouth). Repeat several times.

CLICK HERE FOR SPANISH

We have begun our annual Hearing and Vision Screenings at the Early Learning Center!

Over the following weeks, Nurse Kristin will be conducting hearing and vision screenings to ensure every child’s eyes and ears are ready for learning.

If a screening indicates a possible concern, Nurse Kristin will be in touch with you and recommend a formal evaluation.

*All preschool students are required by the Illinois Department of Public Health to have their hearing/vision screening completed every year.

If your child is already under the care of a doctor for their vision/hearing needs, please contact Nurse Kristin at kedgar@d123.org to update the school health record.

Click HERE to fill out the form online to sign the permission slip for in-school dental care!

Join us for an interactive presentation at Sward School on Wednesday, November 19th from 6:30 to 7:30 pm: “D123 WIN Model: Wrap-Around Resources to Use at Home.”

During this session, we will:

• Explain what the WIN model is and how it supports student learning
• Show what WIN time looks like for students in the classroom
• Provide families with practical resources to use at home

Parents are encouraged to bring their children with their Chromebooks. We will have hands-on WIN centers where students can rotate through activities and experience WIN just as they do at school.

There will be plenty of activities for you to participate in with your child, along with resources to take home. These tools will help you guide your child on what they can do at home to elevate their learning.

As part of our ongoing transition to the new Skyward Qmlativ student information system, District 123 will begin sending automatic email notifications to families whenever a staff member submits a disciplinary referral for their child. These notices will include your child’s name, the date and time of the incident, an incident number, a brief description of what occurred, and the general type of offense. After a referral is entered, the staff member who submitted it will contact you as soon as possible; however, because their first responsibility is classroom instruction, they may not be immediately available by phone or email. In keeping with our District 123 family communication guidelines, school staff strive to respond to parent and guardian messages within one school day whenever possible and will let you know if a reply will take longer.

The D123 preschool program provides all items needed for snacks, which are distributed by Whitson's School Nutrition and are free of cost to all families. CLICK HERE to view the menu and review nutrition information, ingredients and allergen information, accessible from any mobile device or computer.

***THE ELC SNACK CALENDAR IS LISTED UNDER OAK LAWN-HOMETOWN SD ELC CENTER***

• To ensure the safety of pedestrians, vehicles and staff members, please adhere to traffic patterns outlined during orientation.
• Vehicles should not block driveways and parking lot entrances.
• Once the curbside line has formed, the line wraps around the corner from Keeler Ave onto 93rd in front of the school. Please make your way to the end of the car line when entering the curbside lane and do not try to cut in where there may be a gap.
• Please remember that ALL preschool-age students MUST be in a child restraint system.

Thanks for teaming up with us to keep our school community safe!

D123 uses the Visitor Aware Program to immediately identify visitors and create a temporary ID badge to wear for the duration of their time spent at our schools.

In order to ensure a smooth visit to the ELC, please use THIS LINK to complete the pre-registration for Visitor Aware for any future classroom volunteering and visits inside our building.

You will be prompted to take a picture of yourself and answer a few questions, including Driver's License #. Once you complete this, you will be added to the system and will not have to resubmit this information every time you visit the building. You will receive a QR code via text and email to scan which is what you will use when checking into the school for a visit.

You can find common questions about the Visitor Aware System answered HERE. Click HERE for SPANISH.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact the Main Office.

Early Learning Center

4201 W. 93rd Street, Oak Lawn, Illinois 60453

Director: Christine Fuller - cfuller@d123.org

Website: d123.org Instagram: @d123elc

Phone: 708.423.8363 Fax: 708.869.7093